{{Short description|Generation Z revival of shoegaze}} {{distinguish|Gen Z stare}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Zoomergaze | etymology = Zoomer + shoe''gaze'' | stylistic_origins = * Shoegaze * nu-gaze * digicore * hyperpop * electronic | cultural_origins = 2020s, United States | instruments = | subgenrelist = | subgenres = | fusiongenres = | regional_scenes = | other_topics = * Laptop twee * DAW * nu metal * emo rap * 2010s shoegaze revival * hyper-rock * grungegaze * soft grunge * SoundCloud indie }}
'''Zoomergaze''' is a loosely-defined style of electronic music and nu-gaze characterized by Generation Z musicians experimenting with the boundaries of shoegaze. The genre is a merger of shoegaze with internet music styles such as digicore and hyperpop. It sometimes incorporates influences from alternative metal and grunge-inspired genres such as grungegaze and soft grunge.
During the late 2010s and early 2020s, hyperpop artists such as Strawberry Hospital, Fax Gang and Parannoul began to embrace shoegaze. Jane Remover and Quannnic's albums ''Frailty'' (2021) and ''Kenopsia'' (2022) popularized the style, initiating a wave that included Aldn, d0llywood1, Jaydes and Twikipedia. By 2023, its popularity spread on TikTok, where Wisp became the style's forefront act.
== Etymology == "Zoomergaze" is a portmanteau of "shoegaze" and "zoomer" (meaning Generation Z).<ref name="Art in Sight">{{cite web |title=[Interview] 풍선껌으로부터 탈출하기, 밴드 스키틀즈(Skittles) |url=https://www.artinsight.co.kr/news/view.php?no=77743 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref> In a 2024 article for ''WhyNow'', writer Harvey Solomon-Brady used the term to refer to the fusion of hyperpop and shoegaze.<ref name="Solomon-Brady, 2024" /> In a 2026 article ''Vice'' magazine used a broader definition: shoegaze made by generation Z.<ref name="4artiststo">{{Cite web |last=Galiher |first=Stephen Andrew |date=2026-02-27 |title=4 Artists to Introduce You to Zoomergaze, Shoegaze's Alternative Little Sibling |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/4-artists-to-introduce-you-to-zoomergaze-shoegazes-alternative-little-sibling/ |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}</ref>
In a 2024 article for ''Nina Protocol'', music blogger Eli Enis called the style "VSTi-gaze" and "compu-gaze".<ref name="Enis, 2025">{{cite web |last1=Enis |first1=Eli |title=Shoegaze and Digicore Have Fully Collided |url=https://www.ninaprotocol.com/posts/shoegaze-and-digicore-have-fully-collided |website=Nina Protocol |access-date=3 March 2026}}</ref> Writing for ''Pitchfork'', Kieran Press-Reynolds attributed the term "cloud-rock", popularized by Nina Protocol as a "progeny of shoegaze".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-29 |title=Chasing Fridays: Cloud-Rock explainer, quannnic Q&A, The Virgos |url=https://www.elienis.com/chasing-fridays-cloud-rock-explainer-quannnic-interview-the-virgos/ |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=Chasing Sundays |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |date=2026-01-28 |title=AI Music Is Here to Stay. How Do We Reckon With It? |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/unpacking-bandcamps-ai-music-ban/ |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hyland |first=Samuel |title=quannnic: Warbrained |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/quannnic-warbrained/ |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref> He later defined a "Post-Pandemic Alt-Rock" scene which overlapped with cloud rock, citing groups who arose alongside Bar Italia, blending influences from the Cure, Dean Blunt, Blur, Pavement, trip hop and shoegaze.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |date=2025-07-09 |title=The Dreamy Malaise of Post-Pandemic Alt-Rock |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-dreamy-malaise-of-post-pandemic-alt-rock/ |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Characteristics == [[File:Wisp-1_cropped.jpg|thumb|291x291px|Wisp,<ref name="4artiststo" /> the most commericially successful zoomergaze artist ]] These musicians incorporated elements of digicore with shoegaze's atmospheric textures and grunge's energy.<ref name="Enis, 2024">{{cite web |last1=Solomon-Brady |first1=Harvey |date=4 January 2024 |title=From Shoegaze to Zoomer Gaze: the evolution of a Gen Z musical phenomenon whynow |url=https://whynow.co.uk/read/from-shoegaze-to-zoomer-gaze-the-evolution-of-a-gen-z-musical-phenomenon |access-date=3 March 2026 |website=whynow}}</ref> In particular, merging shoegaze instrumental elements alongside electronic elements including vocals that are effected by pitch shifting, autotune and formant editing, as well as glitches and entirely electronic segments.<ref name="Feigelson" /> Some arts put an emphasis on elements of electronic dance music such as drops,<ref name="Enis, 2023b">{{cite web |last1=Enis |first1=Eli |date=18 December 2023 |title=TikTok Has Made Shoegaze Bigger Than Ever |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2245469/tiktok-has-made-shoegaze-bigger-than-ever/columns/sounding-board/ |access-date=3 March 2026 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}</ref> while others shunned physical guitars entirely, dealing only in MIDI and sampled instruments.<ref name="Enis, 2023b" /> Enis noted that "it’s not a genre", instead calling it a "trend" and "generational spirit", in which artists are "drifting in and out of shoegaze... retaining the sonic elasticity of the genre they came from".<ref name="Enis, 2025" />
''Art in Sight'' stated most zoomergaze artists play indie rock, in a manner influenced by shoegaze.<ref name="Art in Sight" /> Claudio Lancia of the Italian magazine ''Ondarock'', called zoomergaze a subgenre of nu-gaze.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lancia |first1=Claudio |title=Mondaze - Linger: :: Le Recensioni di OndaRock |url=https://www.ondarock.it/recensioni/2024-mondaze-linger.htm |website=OndaRock |access-date=10 February 2026 |language=it}}</ref> ''PopMatters'' writer Ethan Stewart called it a subgenre of electronic music and noted the influence of grungegaze and soft grunge upon artists including Wisp and Quannnic.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=Ethan |title=Why Grungegaze Dominates 2026's Music Underground » PopMatters |url=https://www.popmatters.com/why-grungegaze-dominates-2026 |website=PopMatters |access-date=13 March 2026 |date=10 March 2026}}</ref>
Common influences upon artists in the style were traditional shoegaze artists Whirr, Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine; as well as newer, experimental takes on the genre such as the vocaloid shoegaze album ''Mikgazer vol. 1'' (2012); and Parannoul's album ''To See the Next Part of the Dream'' (2021), which used MIDI instrumentation.<ref name="Solomon-Brady, 2024" /> Artists outside of shoegaze that were influential upon its sound were dream pop band Beach House; soft grunge bands Basement and Superheaven; and alternative metal bands Deftones and Hum.<ref name="Enis, 2023b" /> Solomon-Brady credited the sound as the culmination of the 2010s shoegaze revival and the concurrent bleak indie-indebted music of MGMT, Lana Del Rey and Tame Impala, within the context of generation Z digital natives tendency towards doomscrolling.<ref name="Solomon-Brady, 2024">{{cite web |last1=Solomon-Brady |first1=Harvey |title=From Shoegaze to Zoomer Gaze: the evolution of a Gen Z musical phenomenon whynow |url=https://whynow.co.uk/read/from-shoegaze-to-zoomer-gaze-the-evolution-of-a-gen-z-musical-phenomenon |website=whynow |access-date=3 March 2026 |date=4 January 2024}}</ref> Eli Enis cited Asian Glow as influencing the "DAW-designed digi-gaze" of Jane Remover, Twikipedia and Quannnic.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-10|title=Chasing Fridays: Ethel Cain, Asian Glow, Bowery Electric, more|url=https://www.elienis.com/chasing-fridays-ethel-cain-asian-glow-bowery-electric-more/|access-date=2026-04-04|website=Chasing Sundays|language=en}}</ref>
== History == === 2010s: Precursors === {{See also|Philly shit|2010s shoegaze revival}} During the 2010s and early 2020s, there was an increased number of experimental takes on shoegaze, which would go on to inspire the sound of zoomergaze.<ref name="Solomon-Brady, 2024" /> In the Philadelphia, Philly shit, shoegaze scene of the late 2010s, They Are Gutting a Body of Water and Full Body 2 were incorporating electronic elements such as glitched breakbeats and synthesisers.<ref name="Feigelson" /> ''Stereogum'' writer James Rettig coined the term "hyper-rock" in reference to nearby band Feeble Little Horse, citing their incorporation of a hyperpop's "genre-omnivorous" songwriting style into heavy shoegaze.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Creek |first1=Saddle |title=Album Of The Week: Feeble Little Horse Girl With Fish |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2225170/feeble-little-horse-girl-with-fish/reviews/album-of-the-week/ |website=Stereogum |access-date=3 March 2026 |language=en |date=6 June 2023}}</ref> Amongst zoomergaze musicians, Solomon-Brady noted the influence of vocaloid shoegaze album ''Mikgazer vol. 1'' (2012); and Parannoul's album ''To See the Next Part of the Dream'' (2021), which used MIDI instrumentation.<ref name="Solomon-Brady, 2024" />
=== 2020s: Origins === {{See also|Hyperpop|Digicore}} [[File:Jane Remover April 2025 2 (cropped).png|thumb|321x321px|Jane Remover, photographed in April 2025, blended digicore with shoegaze on the album ''Frailty'']] In the early 2020s, a wave of practitioners of the electronic genres hyperpop and digicore began to experiment with rock elements. One major strain of this was artists who incorporated elements of shoegaze.<ref name="Feigelson">{{cite web |last1=Feigelson |first1=David |title=The Emergence of Hyper-Rock |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/scene-report/the-emergence-of-hyper-rock |access-date=12 February 2026 |website=Paste}}</ref> As early as 2018, Strawberry Hospital's album ''Grave Chimera'' was merging elements of shoegaze into hyperpop.<ref name="Feigelson" />
In 2021, ''Alternative Press'' writer, Giedre Matulaityte credited the album, as "reimagining everything you know about shoegaze". Matulaityte also noted Fax Gang's ''Aethernet'' (2021) as merging elements of shoegaze with hyperpop and hexD.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Matulaityte |first1=Giedre |title=10 bands who are reimagining everything you know about shoegaze |url=https://www.altpress.com/best-new-shoegaze-bands-blackgaze-emo-rap-trap/ |access-date=3 March 2026 |website=Alternative Press}}</ref> Jane Remover experimented with a similar fusion on ''Frailty'' (2021),<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Sundaresan |first=Mano |date=November 23, 2021 |title=Jane Remover: ''Frailty'' Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/dltzk-frailty/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601101508/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/dltzk-frailty/ |archive-date=June 1, 2023 |access-date=December 16, 2021 |website=Pitchfork}}</ref> with Quannnic following with ''Kenopsia'' (2022). Both leaned further into their shoegaze influence on their subsequent albums ''Census Designated'' (2023) and ''Stepdream'' (2023).<ref name="Feigelson" /> That year, the movement expanded outside of the digicore and hyperpop realm, as emo rapper Deep October, an influence upon digicore, released ''The World Doesn’t Deserve You'' (2023).<ref name="Enis, 2025" />
In a 2023 interview, Quannnic stated the phenomenon of digicore artists embracing shoegaze was due to digicore feeling "creatively stifled",<ref name="Enis, 2023b" /> while in a 2024 interview, hyperpop musician and manager, Zazie Bae said it was due to the digicore and hyperpop artist not being "taken seriously".<ref name="Enis, 2025" />
By the end of 2023, zoomergaze artists Flyingfish and Wisp had garnered viral followings on TikTok.<ref name="Enis, 2023b" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-02-27 |title=4 Artists Redefining Shoegaze for a New Generation - Charlotte Today |url=https://nationaltoday.com/us/nc/charlotte/news/2026/02/27/4-artists-redefining-shoegaze-for-a-new-generation/ |access-date=2026-03-30 |website=National Today |language=en-US}}</ref> That same year, ''Pitchfork'' described the year as when "The Shoegaze Revival Hit Its Stride," with the TikTok hashtag #slowdive reaching 235 million views as well as the hashtag #shoegaze reaching 730 million views.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sherburne |first=Philip |date=2023-12-14 |title=The Shoegaze Revival Hit Its Stride in 2023 |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/the-shoegaze-revival-hit-its-stride-in-2023/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214195722/https://pitchfork.com/features/article/the-shoegaze-revival-hit-its-stride-in-2023/ |archive-date=14 December 2023 |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=Pitchfork}}</ref> By 2024, writer Ryan Pinkard stated, "TikTok has done for Gen Z what MySpace did for millennials in the early 2000s".<ref>{{harvnb|Pinkard|2024|p=143}}</ref> ''Stereogum'' credited the platform with making shoegaze "bigger than ever," while publications such as ''Vice'' noted that many teenagers were using shoegaze to soundtrack their "bleak, post-COVID world."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Toner |first=Paul |date=2021-04-27 |title=Gen Z Are Resurrecting Shoegaze for Their 'Bleak, Post-COVID World' |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/gen-z-shoegaze-comeback/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250531023555/https://www.vice.com/en/article/gen-z-shoegaze-comeback/ |archive-date=31 May 2025 |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=Vice}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Enis |first=Eli |date=2023-12-18 |title=TikTok Has Made Shoegaze Bigger Than Ever |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2245469/tiktok-has-made-shoegaze-bigger-than-ever/columns/sounding-board/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218203837/https://www.stereogum.com/2245469/tiktok-has-made-shoegaze-bigger-than-ever/columns/sounding-board/ |archive-date=18 December 2023 |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=Stereogum}}</ref> In 2024, in a review of Beabadoobee's third studio album ''This Is How Tomorrow Moves'' published in ''The Guardian'', British music critic Kitty Empire stated "Post, for one, takes a Taylor Swift–ish pop song and runs it through a 'zoomergaze' filter – zoomergaze being the latest iteration of My Bloody Valentine's influence as refracted by the internet."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Empire |first=Kitty |date=2024-08-10 |title=Beabadoobee: This Is How Tomorrow Moves review – a nostalgic gen Z gem |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/10/beabadoobee-this-is-how-tomorrow-moves-review-rick-rubin |access-date=2026-01-22 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In 2025, ''Dork'' noted that Wisp was labelled as "the face of 'zoomergaze{{'"}} and described her as a leading artist in Gen Z's shoegaze revival.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Firth |first=Abigail |date=16 January 2025 |title=Hype List 2025: Wisp is reinvigorating shoegaze for a new generation |url=https://readdork.com/features/hype-list-2025-wisp-interview/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126135720/https://readdork.com/features/hype-list-2025-wisp-interview/ |archive-date=26 January 2025 |access-date=3 December 2025 |website=Dork}}</ref>
== See also ==
== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |last=Pinkard |first=Ryan |title=Shoegaze |date=2024-10-03 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-7651-0343-2 |series=Genre: A 33 1/3}}
== References ==
<references /> {{Shoegaze}}{{Rock music}}{{Alternative rock}}{{Hyperpop and digicore}}
Category:Counterculture of the 2020s Category:Microgenres Category:21st-century music genres Category:2020s in music Category:Rock music genres Category:2020s neologisms Category:Internet music genres Category:2020s fads and trends Category:Shoegaze